HAMMOND, Ind. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team struggled from three-point range in a 76-67 loss at Purdue Northwest on Thursday night. The Cardinals (13-14, 7-12 GLIAC) made four three-point jumpers, while the Pride (14-12, 10-9 GLIAC) made 10 shots from deep.
Kevonne Taylor (Detroit, Mich. / Chandler Park HS) led the way for SVSU in the losing effort as he recorded his third double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Taylor's point total matches his season high, and it gives him his fourth career double-double.
Xavier Thomas (Detroit, Mich. / Brother Rice HS) hit a three-pointer in the first two minutes of play to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. PNW responded with back-to-back jumpers from beyond the arc, and the Pride would never surrender the advantage again.
Triston Nichols (Shelby Twp., Mich. / De La Salle HS) made a layup through contact and completed the and-one to bring SVSU within three points, 8-11, of tying things up into the first media timeout of the game.
Out of the break, Purdue Northwest made six free throws during an 8-0 run that spanned 3:34 of the game and pushed the lead to 19-8 in favor of PNW.
Bryson Huckeby (Freeland, Mich. / Freeland HS) ended the scoring drought for the Cardinals with a jumper at the 12:09 mark, and the deficit fell back to just nine points (19-10).
SVSU outscored the Pride 8-4 to shrink the gap to just seven points, 23-16, after back-to-back buckets by Aidan Duran (Spring, Texas / Victory Rock Prep).
PNW continued to score points in bunches throughout the remainder of the opening period and held onto an 11-point lead at the break, 38-27.
The margin peaked at 20 points in the final 10 minutes of play before Taylor hit a shot that sparked a 7-0 run for the Cardinal,s and the score sat at 68-55 with 3:44 remaining.
SVSU got it as close as 10 points, but the Pride made their free throws down the stretch to hang on for the nine-point victory.
Both teams shot 44% from the floor, but the difference came in three-point shooting and free throws as the Cardinals struggled from deep (2-20) and shot below 70% from the charity stripe (11-16). Purdue Northwest finished 10-of-22 from beyond the arc and made 87% of its free throws in the game.
Scott II finished with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting to lead SVSU in scoring. Taylor added a block to bring his season total to 60, which is a career-high for the redshirt junior. Nichols finished with 13 points, three assists, and four rebounds. Thomas and Huckeby each totaled nine points, with Huckeby adding seven rebounds and two steals to his totals.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals conclude the regular season on Saturday at Wayne State at 3:00 p.m. (ET). The game against the Warriors is essentially a playoff game, as SVSU needs to win to hold on to a potential GLIAC Tournament berth.